Small banks have had basic services trimmed by global banks, as a result of heightened regulations, said panel participants at Sibos 2015 on Tuesday. And this, according to larger banks, is a result of higher fixed costs that must be incurred regardless of the size of the corresponding bank.

Several agreements were inked on Tuesday to broaden and deepen partnership between Singapore and China in the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City. After the bilateral project's Joint Steering Council Meeting held at Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore's Ministry of National Development and China's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development signed a memorandum of understanding on four joint collaborative projects in the eco-city.

Total household wealth in current US dollar terms fell by 5.8 per cent to US$1 trillion from mid-2014 to mid-2015, although in domestic currency terms, it rose by 1.8 per cent, according to Credit Suisse Research Institute's sixth annual Global Wealth Report.

Having bounced 245 points in just eight trading sessions, the Straits Times Index (STI) on Tuesday dropped 47.23 points or 1.6 per cent to 2,984.88 in line with weakness in Hong Kong and the Dow futures. Turnover dropped from S$1.4 billion on Monday to 1.3 billion units worth S$1.1 billion though the proportion contributed by trading in the 30 index members at 77 per cent was higher than Monday's 73 per cent.